Trichinosis

Trichinosis
A disease that comes from eating raw or undercooked pork or wild game that is infected with the larvae of a worm called Trichinella spiralis. The initial symptoms of the disease are abdominal discomfort, nausea, diarrhea, vomiting, fatigue and fever. Next usually come headaches, fevers, chills, cough, eye swelling, aching joint muscle pains, itchy skin, diarrhea, or constipation. With heavy infection, patients may experience difficulty coordinating movements and have heart and breathing problems. In severe cases, death can occur. The severity of symptoms depends on the number of infectious worms consumed in meat. To avoid trichinosis: Cook meat until the juices run clear or to an internal temperature of 170 degrees F (77 degrees C). Freeze pork less than 6 inches (15 cm) thick for 20 days at 5 degrees F (-15 degrees C) to kill any worms. Cook wild game meat thoroughly. (Freezing wild game meats, unlike freezing pork products, even for long periods of time, may not effectively kill all worms). Cook all meat fed to pigs or other wild animals and do not allow hogs to eat uncooked carcasses of other animals, including rats (which may be infected with trichinosis). Clean meat grinders thoroughly if you prepare your own ground meats. Remember that curing (salting), drying, smoking, or microwaving meat does not consistently kill infective worms. If you think you may have trichinosis, seek medical attention. Trichinosis is also known as trichinellosis.
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The disease resulting from ingestion of raw or inadequately cooked pork (or bear or walrus meat) that contains encysted larvae of the nematode parasite Trichinella spiralis. The initial symptoms of human disease are abdominal pain, cramping, and diarrhea, associated with the development of the parasites in the small intestine. Once the resultant larval parasites migrate and invade muscular tissue, a second set of symptoms is manifest, including facial and periorbital edema, myalgia, fever, pruritus, urticaria, conjunctivitis, and signs of myocarditis. SYN: trichinelliasis, trichinellosis, trichiniasis. [Trichinella (trichina) + G. -osis, condition]

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trich·i·no·sis .trik-ə-'nō-səs n, pl -no·ses -.sēz infestation with or disease caused by trichinae contracted by eating raw or insufficiently cooked infested food and esp. pork and marked initially by colicky pains, nausea, and diarrhea and later by muscular pain, dyspnea, fever, and edema called also trichinelliasis, trichiniasis

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n.
a disease of cold and temperate regions caused by the larvae of the nematode worm Trichinella. Humans contract trichinosis after eating imperfectly cooked meat infected with the parasite's larval cysts. Larvae, released by females in the intestine, penetrate the intestinal wall and cause diarrhoea and nausea. They migrate around the body and may cause fever, vertigo, delirium, and pains in the limbs. The larvae eventually settle within cysts in the muscles, and this may result in pain and stiffness. Trichinosis, rarely a serious disease, is treated with tiabendazole.

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trich·i·no·sis (trik″ĭ-noґsis) a disease due to infection with Trichinella spiralis, seen following the eating of undercooked contaminated meat; early symptoms are diarrhea, nausea, colic, and fever, followed later by stiffness, pain, muscle swelling, fever, eosinophilia, edema around the eyes, splinter hemorrhages, sweating, and insomnia. Called also trichinellosis.

Medical dictionary. 2011.

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Look at other dictionaries:

  • Trichinosis — Trichinosis, also called trichinellosis, or trichiniasis, is a parasitic disease caused by eating raw or undercooked pork and wild game infected with the larvae of a species of roundworm Trichinella spiralis , commonly called the trichina worm.… …   Wikipedia

  • Trichinosis — Trich i*no sis, n. [NL. See {Trichina}.] (Med.) The disease produced by the presence of trichin[ae] in the muscles and intestinal track. It is marked by fever, muscular pains, and symptoms resembling those of typhoid fever, and is frequently… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • trichinosis — disease caused by trichinae, 1866, coined by Bernhard Rupprecht (1815 77) from trichina (1835), from Mod.L., genus name of certain minute parasitic worms, from Gk. trikhine, fem. of trikhinos of or like hair, from thrix (gen. trikhos) hair …   Etymology dictionary

  • trichinosis — [trik΄i nō′sis] n. [ModL: see TRICHINA & OSIS] a disease caused by the presence of trichinae in the intestines and muscle tissues and usually acquired by eating insufficiently cooked pork from an infested hog: it is characterized by fever, nausea …   English World dictionary

  • trichinosis — /trik euh noh sis/, n. Pathol. a disease resulting from infestation with Trichinella spiralis, occurring in humans, caused by ingestion of infested, undercooked pork, and characterized by fever, muscle weakness, and diarrhea. Also, trichiniasis… …   Universalium

  • trichinosis — trichiniasis; n. a disease of cold and temperate regions caused by the larvae of the nematode worm Trichinella spiralis. Humans contract trichinosis after eating imperfectly cooked meat infected with the parasite s larval cysts. Larvae, released… …   The new mediacal dictionary

  • trichinosis — trichineliozė statusas Aprobuotas sritis gyvūnų užkrečiamosios ligos apibrėžtis Trichinella genties nematodų sukeliama antropozoonozė. atitikmenys: lot. Trichinellosis angl. trichinosis vok. Trichinose šaltinis Lietuvos Respublikos valstybinės… …   Lithuanian dictionary (lietuvių žodynas)

  • trichinosis — noun Etymology: New Latin Date: 1866 infestation with or disease caused by trichinae and marked especially by muscular pain, dyspnea, fever, weakness, and edema …   New Collegiate Dictionary

  • trichinosis — noun A disease characterized by headache, chills, fever, and soreness of muscles, caused by the presence of trichinae in the intestines and muscular tissues. Syn: trichinellosis, trichiniasis …   Wiktionary

  • trichinosis — trich·i·no·sis || ‚trɪkɪ nəʊsɪs n. (Medicine) serious infection caused by ingestion of meat infected with the parasitic worm trichina (symptoms include fever, muscle pain, diarrhea, and sever perspiration) …   English contemporary dictionary

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